#IceBucketChallenge Has Increased ALS Donations Tenfold

Everything started with a video posted to Facebook by Pete Frates that challenged a few friends plus New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Howard Stern to dump a bucket of ice water over their heads. Just a few weeks later, the ALS #IceBucketChallenge has seemingly taken over social media, with celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Conan O’Brien getting in on the charitable endeavor. But how much money has the whole thing actually raised for the ALS Association?

According to The New York Times, the organization has raised $13.3 million for 260,000 new donors since July 29. That’s nearly 10 times more than the $1.7 million they raised during the same period last year. People have shared 1.2 million #IceBucketChallenge videos on Facebook and mentioned the hashtag 2.2 million times on Twitter in that same period.

In case you haven’t ventured onto either of those platforms in the last couple of weeks, here’s how it works: Someone posts a video dumping a bucket of ice water over their heads and then challenges three friends to do the same within 24 hours or donate $100 to ALS. Many people are choosing to do both. President Barack Obama decided to pay the money and avoid the ice water.

Watch some of the most popular celebrity #IceBucketChallege videos below: